punman Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 (edited) Three months ago I purchased 30 tropheus Kirizas that ranged from 1.25 inches to 2 inches. They are now 2.75 inches to 3.25 inches in length, due to, I believe, being in a 180 gallon tank, water changes every ten days, and a diet of only New Life Spectrum. Just before going on vacation I noticed a female holding eggs. When I came back, she was still holding so I stripped her of three fry today!!! I was pretty excited as I thought the fish were too small/young to spawn. A couple of questions. How old do you think my fish are? (Obviously over three months). But how long might it have taken to get from birth to the size at which I purchased them? Someone said that they need to be a year to spawn. If that were true it means nine months from birth to an average of 1.75 inches. That just seems too long of a time. My estimate is that they might be six months old but I have no idea. My second question is wanting to know how long the female had been holding. I stripped her 15 days after seeing her holding but have no idea how long she was holding before I noticed. I post below a picture taken today – the day she was stripped. I would not normally strip fry this soon. I thought she may have been holding a week before I noticed her. I don't think that was case based on the development of the fry. The egg sacs are huge but luckily the fry are free- swimming. Sorry for the poor picture quality. Also, are three fry for starters pretty typical? What is average for older females? Edited August 5, 2008 by punman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punman Posted August 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 I just got an email from Spencer Jack, the importer from whom I got the tropheus. He says that Kiriza spawn at 12 to 15 months typically. As mine are from the lake one cannot predict their age with certainty but he figures that they would have been 6 – 8 months old when I got them. I would think that they would grow slower in the lake than in a controlled tank with lots of quality food available but I could be wrong on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted August 18, 2008 Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 Spencer sure knows his stuff. I think fish typically grow faster in the wild. I have 2 duboisi and have had them for about 4 months now, they have not grown very fast. So I think this particular species grows slower, which may be the reason behind their aggressive nature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.